Ministry: China welcomes WTO ruling against US anti-dumping measures

China welcomed the World Trade Organization's recent rulings that certain anti-dumping measures of the United States against Chinese exports are in violation of its rules, said the Ministry of Commerce in a statement.

"The US and some other countries that initiate trade investigations into China are abusing the trade remedy measures. This has a negative influence on the international trade environment," said Sun Yibiao, vice-minister of the General Administration of Customs of China on Thursday.

An official with the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that all countries shouldn't set up standards that go beyond the WTO rules, nor should they determine anti-dumping remedies deviating from the rules.

The WTO ruled against the 13 anti-dumping methods taken by the US Commerce Department on Chinese products in terms of targeted dumping and a refusal to set separate rates, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Dumping is found when a firm exports a product at a price lower than the price it normally charges on its domestic market.

On Dec 3, 2013, China filed a WTO complaint against the US over anti-dumping measures on machinery, electronics, light industry, metals and minerals. The products' annual export value totaled nearly $ 8.4 billion, said the Ministry of Commerce in a statement.

China urges the US to respect the rulings of the WTO, correct the wrongdoing of abusing the trade remedy measures and ensure Chinese companies enjoy a fair competition trade environment, the ministry stated.

The ministry said China is currently evaluating the panel report, and doing follow-up work in accordance with WTO disputes settlement procedures.

The US initiated 18 trade-remedy measures against Chinese products including steel, agricultural and photo-voltaic products in the first half of the year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

China's nonmarket economy status is seen as a major obstacle for Chinese enterprises to deal with anti-dumping investigations. As a condition of joining the WTO, China agreed in 2001 that other WTO members could treat it as a "nonmarket economy" for 15 years ending on Dec 11, 2016.

As the deadline draws near, however, some members are disputing the automatic recognition of China as a market economy.

"Excessive trade protection is the primary reason that major economies continue to launch trade investigations on Chinese products and limit China' access for trade," said Chen Xuedong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation

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